1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to utilities for computer program developers, and in particular, to tracking user input data to interactive electronic devices to aid in the programming development and testing process.
2. Description of Related Art
With the growing popularity of interactive electronic devices such as video games, personal computer programs and other interactive software programs, program developers have been prompted to find new ways to increase productivity in an increasing competitive market. One way to increase productivity is to utilize more efficient development techniques. However, presently the development process is a tedious and time-consuming task.
For example, during the development process, programming progress must be tested and retested to insure a "bug" free final product. A "bug" is an unintentional programming error or defect that causes the program to malfunction. One way to test programming development is to have human "testers" identify and duplicate programming defects in the program. Normally, the human tester reproduces the same sequence of inputs from memory that the tester made before and up to the discovery of the defect in the program. Thus, when the tester identifies a defect, the tester must either keep a record or remember the exact input and sequence of inputs that led to the discovery of the defect. The human tester is heavily relied upon to accurately and precisely duplicate the defect manually. Also, any defects must be communicated to the programmer so the programmer will be able to eliminate them.
However, with certain programs, the human tester cannot be expected to remember every move or input that was made leading up to the discovery of the defect and then duplicate all the moves or inputs. Thus, relying on the memory of human testers to duplicate defects is imprecise, inaccurate, and time consuming; this complicates the development process, wasting time and energy.
Therefore, there is a need for a device that allows developers or testers to accurately and precisely record and duplicate user input data to interactive electronic devices. Electronic methods are needed to provide accurate and quick duplication of the occurrence of defects as opposed to the inferior manual methods discussed above. Therefore, the development and testing processes become more cost effective because time is used more efficiently and the possibility of human error is eliminated.
Whatever the merits of the prior techniques and methods, they do not achieve the benefits of the present invention.